Thank you so much for the question.
Your question raises a number of really important issues, the first of which is that Medicago is, first and foremost, a vaccine manufacturing firm that is not controlled by PMI. It is completely independent. It operates in and around Quebec City. It has a site in North Carolina. It is a company that has gone from very much a start-up to prerevenue. It has shown exceptional quality in its science. The technology platform for the vaccine it has brought forward is unique insofar as it offers a safe and effective alternative to mRNA vaccines. Views of the promise of the science, the promise of the technology, the quality of the company and the asset it represents to Canada are very widely held amongst experts throughout Canada.
With respect to the issue of its ownership structure and the legacy of PMI, there's no question there. Canada's position on tobacco control and its commitment to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, as you indicated in your question, are very long standing. When it came time to review the application for investment by the company, there was very careful consideration given to the implications of PMI having a minority stake in the ownership structure. Those considerations were weighed against the reality that we were a few months into a global pandemic when there was a race to get a vaccine developed and into the arms of people. In that situation and faced with those choices and understanding that there might be challenges associated with that down the road, the unanimous view of experts was that this was a company worth investing in and that this was a base of science that showed promise. In October of 2020, when there wasn't a COVID vaccine to be seen, that was very much the decision that was made.
My final point—not to repeat myself or to be too long-winded, and I apologize for that—is that the ownership questions that are being raised today and the problem that PMI ownership presents to the company and its long-term viability, in answer to the member's first question, are very much on the mind of the company right now. We expect them to take action.